Open Championship: Previous Opens at Royal Lytham

Open Championship: Previous Opens at Royal Lytham

A capsule look at the 10 previous British Opens held at Royal Lytham & St. Annes, where the 141st British Open will be played July 19-22:

• • •

YEAR: 2001

WINNER: David Duval

SCORE: 274

RUNNER-UP: Niclas Fasth

MARGIN: 3 shots

EARNINGS: 600,000 pounds.

RECAP: No one paid close attention to David Duval until his 65 early Saturday, which was followed by calamity on the course from so many others. At the end of the day, Duval was among four players tied for the lead, with 13 players separated by only one shot going into the final round. One of them was Ian Woosnam, who tapped in for birdie on the opening hole, only to discover on the next tee box he had an extra driver — making that 15 clubs — in his bag and was assessed a two-shot penalty. Duval established himself quickly with three birdies on the outward nine, and a collection of good par saves as his challengers faded. Darren Clarke lost hope with a double bogey from the bunker on the 17th. Duval wound up with a three-shot win for his first — and as it turned out, only — major championship.

NOTEWORTHY: Duval’s win meant that all 11 players to reach No. 1 in the world ranking had won a major championship.

• • •

YEAR: 1996

WINNER: Tom Lehman

SCORE: 271.

RUNNER-UP: Ernie Els, Mark McCumber

MARGIN: 2 shots

EARNINGS: 200,000 pounds.

RECAP: Tom Lehman became the first American professional to win at Royal Lytham with a command performance. He set a 54-hole record at 198 that put him too far ahead for anyone to catch him — not that Nick Faldo didn’t have his chances. Three months after Faldo came from six shots behind to beat Greg Norman at the Masters, he was poised to do it again. His putter, however, refused to cooperate. Faldo missed four putts from inside 7 feet. Lehman was challenged briefly by Ernie Els and Mark McCumber, but he held on to win by two shots. It was the fourth time Lehman had been in contention in the last 10 majors. Jack Nicklaus, at 56, was within one shot of Lehman going into the weekend until a 77 in the third round dropped him from contention.

NOTEWORTHY: Tiger Woods, a 20-year-old at Stanford had a 66 in the second round and tied for 22nd. This was his last major as an amateur.

• • •

YEAR: 1988

WINNER: Seve Ballesteros

SCORE: 273

RUNNER-UP: Nick Price

MARGIN: 2 shots

EARNINGS: 80,000 pounds

RECAP: This was the final major for Ballesteros, and an Open remembered as much for the star power on the leaderboard as the decisive shot by the Spaniard. He had to hold off Nick Price, Nick Faldo and Fred Couples. Price and Faldo were tied going into the final round, but Ballesteros quickly made up the two-shot deficit as Faldo faltered. The turning point again came on the 16th hole. Instead of hitting into a car park, however, Ballesteros drilled a 1-iron into the fairway, and then followed with a 9-iron that settled 3 inches from the cup for a birdie that broke the tie. He closed with a 65, effectively clinching the win with a pitch that stopped a foot from the cup. Heavy rain led to the first Monday finish in Open Championship history.

NOTEWORTHY: Ballesteros became the only player in British Open history to win the claret jug on Saturday (1979), Sunday (1984) and Monday (1988).

• • •

YEAR: 1979

WINNER: Seve Ballesteros

SCORE: 283

RUNNER-UP: Ben Crenshaw, Jack Nicklaus

MARGIN: 3 shots

EARNINGS: 15,000 pounds

RECAP: Seve Ballesteros captured his first major championship and launched the legend of his charismatic game over four thrill-seeking days. He was eight shots behind after the first round before the Spaniard clawed his way back until he was only two adrift of Hale Irwin going into the final round. Ballesteros hit driver nine times in the fourth round and only once found the fairway. No matter. He recovered time after time, no shot more memorable than the 16th when he drove into an overflow car park. Given relief, his second shot finished on the edge of the green, and he holed a 30-footer for birdie. Some referred to him as the “Car Park Champion,” though most knew better. This was a gifted player who went on to capture the claret jug twice more, along with two green jackets from the Masters.

NOTEWORTHY: Ballesteros became the first continental European to win the claret jug since Arnaud Massy of France in 1907.

• • •

YEAR: 1974

WINNER: Gary Player

SCORE: 282

RUNNER-UP: Peter Oosterhuis

MARGIN: 4 shots

EARNINGS: 5,500 pounds

RECAP: This British Open is best known for the golf ball. It was the first time the American ball at 1.68 inches in diameter was required at golf’s oldest championship, replacing the “small ball” of 1.62 inches. Gary Player won his second major of the year (he won the Masters in April) by going wire-to-wire in a command performance. There were only four rounds in the 60s all week, and the South African had two of them in the opening rounds. That gave him a five-shot lead over Peter Oosterhuis. Player bounced back from a 75 in the third round by making two birdies and an eagle on the opening six holes of the final round to restore his cushion. He was the only player to finish under par for the week.

NOTEWORTHY: Player joined Harry Vardon and J.H. Taylor as the only men to win the British Open in three decades.

• • •

YEAR: 1969

WINNER: Tony Jacklin

SCORE: 280

RUNNER-UP: Bob Charles

MARGIN: 2 shots

EARNINGS: 4,250 pounds

RECAP: A British player had not won the Open since 1951 until Tony Jacklin won at Royal Lytham and became a national hero, sparking a golf revival among British youth. Jacklin three-putted only once in four days and never made worse than bogey. Bob Charles was poised for a repeat at Lytham until a 75 in the third round, with Jacklin going around in 70 to take a two-shot lead into the final round. About the only drama at the end was when Jacklin’s shoe came off in the stampede of fans after he hit onto the final green. He managed a par to win the claret jug. Charles was runner-up for the second straight year. Jack Nicklaus tied for sixth with an American club pro named Davis Love Jr., whose 5-year-old son would go on to win 20 times, the PGA Championship and be appointed Ryder Cup captain.

NOTEWORTHY: It would 16 years before another British player won the Open — Sandy Lyle, who was in the gallery at Lytham inn 1969 to watch Jacklin.

• • •

YEAR: 1963

WINNER: Bob Charles

SCORE: 277

RUNNER-UP: Phil Rodgers

MARGIN: Playoff (Charles 140, Rodgers 148)

EARNINGS: 1,500 pounds

RECAP: Bob Charles of New Zealand became the first left-hander to win a major championship, and only in the last nine years have three others joined him — Mike Weir, Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson, all of them at Augusta National (Mickelson also won a PGA Championship). Peter Thomson, going for a record-tying sixth claret jug, was one shot behind through 54 holes but closed with a 78. This is one major that Jack Nicklaus let get away from him at the end. He hit into a bunker off the tee on the 72nd hole, made bogey and finished one shot out of the playoff. Charles faced Phil Rodgers in a 36-hole playoff, one-putted 11 greens and went on to an eight-shot victory. The Kiwi took only 56 putts in the playoff.

NOTEWORTHY: This was the last time the British Open was decided by a 36-hole playoff.

• • •

YEAR: 1958

WINNER: Peter Thomson

SCORE: 278

RUNNER-UP: Dave Thomas

MARGIN: Playoff (Thomson 139, Thomas 143)

EARNINGS: 1,000 pounds

RECAP: The rivalry between Peter Thomson of Australia and Bobby Locke of South Africa was at its peak. They had combined to win seven of the past nine British Opens, and this was Thomson’s turn. He had control of the tournament until he stumbled slightly in the final round and was caught by Dave Thomas of Wales, who joined him at 278 and forced the first 36-hole playoff in nine years. Thomson built a three-shot lead after the opening 18 holes, and easily won his fourth Open title.

NOTEWORTHY: Far more compelling than the playoff was the 72nd hole. Eric Brown of Scotland needed a par to win. He took double bogey. Christy O’Connor made bogey to finish one shot out of the playoff. Leopoldo Ruiz of Argentina needed par to join the playoff and made triple bogey.

• • •

YEAR: 1952

WINNER: Bobby Locke

SCORE: 287

RUNNER-UP: Peter Thomson

MARGIN: 1 shot

EARNINGS: 300 pounds

RECAP: The Open returned to Royal Lytham & St. Annes for the first time after World War II, and the week featured more bizarre circumstances for the winner. Bobby Locke was four shots behind Fred Daly going into the final 36 holes of miserable weather conditions. Locke had stored his clubs in the trunk of his car and parked it in a garage, but the garage was locked when he awoke. A local milkman knew where the garage owner lived, and Locke was able to retrieve his clubs and get to the course with just enough time to put on his shoes and walk to the first tee. He made up three shots on Daly in the first 18, and then held off a late charge by Peter Thomson to win by one shot.

NOTEWORTHY: This was the third claret jug in four years for Locke. Thomson would go on to win five Open Championships.

• • •

YEAR: 1926

WINNER: Bobby Jones

SCORE: 291

RUNNER-UP: Al Watrous

MARGIN: 2 shots

EARNINGS: Jones was an amateur

RECAP: Bobby Jones won the first of his three British Open titles by two shots over Al Watrous, though it wasn’t easy. This was the first year the Open charged admission, and when Jones left his player’s badge in his hotel room, he had to pay seven shillings to get on the course for the final day because the man at the gate did not recognize him. Jones faced a two-shot deficit with five holes remaining, and he played them with four pars and a birdie to finish on 291. The turning point came on the 17th, where Jones hit a splendid shot from 175 yards off a sandy lie in the rough. The shot is commemorated by a plaque, one of two awarded in Open history. The other belongs to Arnold Palmer at Royal Birkdale in 1961.

NOTEWORTHY: This was the first British Open played over three days instead of two.